The XFactor
by sunsetbabe17
Summary: After Charles Xavier's death he left something behind other than his beloved school and students, or should I say someone. Magneto builds up his army and the XMen recieve help from an unknown source that apparently only Xavier and Storm knew about.
1. Unexpected Revelations

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except some characters and plot. Story begins at the memorial for Professor Xavier in X3.

Unexpected Revelations

Logan was watching the ceremony from his hidden spot in the tree line. He could hear Ororo's words clearly,

"_But Xavier's teachings live on with us, his students. Wherever we may go, we must carry on his vision. The vision of a world united."_

So absorbed in his grief and the beauty of the words, Logan did not hear the light footsteps of someone approaching. "What are you doing all the way over here? The service is over there." Startled Logan jumped a little, but quickly regained his composure and turned to face the woman that was now standing beside him. She was about 5'7" with straight blonde hair and startling blue eyes that seemed awfully familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen them before.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," she let her earlier question go unanswered as she watched the students each place a rose at the base of the cenotaph. Feeling like he should say something Logan opened his mouth and when nothing came to mind he simply said,

"It's ok." They sat in silence with nothing to say as the crowd dispersed as the memorial ended. The women next to him then suddenly headed towards the front of the crowd still near the cenotaph. Not sure where she was going Logan just watched her and realized that she was headed directly for Storm. Once she reached her, the two enveloped each other in a fierce hug and there was an exchange of words, but they were too quiet for even Logan's sensitive ears to pick up.

Then, Storm turned and headed towards the mansion and waved her hand to him, indicating for him to follow her. At the door of the mansion, he turned back around and the woman was standing alone just staring down at the cenotaph and Logan could see a lone tear trailing down her face. He finally pulled himself from the emotional scene at entered the mansion.

Storm led him to one of the frequently used studies where some of the older students, namely Rogue, Bobby, Kitty, and Piotr along with Beast were assembled.

"What do we do now?" questioned Bobby. He looked around the room, afraid of what the answer might be.

"I honestly don't know," Ororo shrugged not sure what should happen with the school now that Xavier was gone.

"Charles Xavier founded this school," Hank began with a solemn look in his eyes. "Perhaps it should end with him." Unable to look up and see the hurt his statement had caused he just looked down at his feet, his blue, furry feet.

Bobby opened his mouth about to protest against this outrage, when the door to the study opened and in walked the girl from the ceremony that Logan had met.

She just bypassed everyone else in the room and walked straight up to Storm. In her hands were papers that she handed to Storm who looked at her confused for a moment, then telepathically, _"Be prepared, Remy says that Magneto is planning something big, he's gathering an army." _Storm nodded her head, the only indication that she heard the girl. The girl then grabbed her in a hug and pulled back saying, "I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye," and with that the girl was gone. Ororo looked down at the papers in her hand and gave a startled gasp of surprise.

"What?" Logan asked a little impatient from being left out of the loop. He wanted to know what the hell was going on here.

"It looks like the school will be staying open," Ororo announced, not sure if she was up to the task of running the school.

"Who was that?" Bobby asked curious.

"That was Tessa Xavier," at the puzzled looks she added, "Charles's daughter and she just entrusted the school to me as long as it stays open."

"Chuck has a daughter!"


	2. Chance Encounters

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot

Chance Encounters 

Rogue hefted her bag over her shoulder and walked swiftly through the halls of Xavier's Institute for gifted youngsters. She wanted to make a quick and quiet exited on her departure to get the cure, especially since Storm did not approve of it. In fact, she said that there was nothing to cure, but what would she know she hasn't had to go through life without experiencing the warmth of another's touch.

"Goin' somewhere kid?" Rogue whirled around as her thoughts and her departure were interrupted. What she saw was the reason she came to the Institute, Logan. She looked down at the floor for a moment wondering if she should tell him the truth or lie so that he wouldn't try to stop her. Finally making up her mind she just blurted it out,

"Ah'm goin' ta get the cure."

"I hope your not doin's this just for some boy," Logan crossed his arms and waited for her answer hoping it was no.

"No, Ah need ta do this for mahself. Ah need to be able to feel another's touch, Ah can't live mah whole life like this." She averted her gaze, ashamed that she wasn't strong enough to learn how to control her power.

"If it's what you want kid, then go for it," startled Rogue quickly looked back up at him.

"Wait a second, aren't ya supposed to tell meh that Ah can't go and ta go upstairs and unpack mah bags." She searched his eyes desperately hoping that what he said earlier was not a lie.

"I'm not your father kid, I'm your friend," after that Rogue crushed him in a hug.

"Goodbye Logan," she called back on her way out.

"Bye Rogue."

"It's Marie," she stated with a shy smile.

"Marie," Logan corrected himself and smiled at her as she left.

In the morning, Bobby was walking down the hall headed towards the girl's dorms, to be exact Rogue's room. Once he reached his destination, he knocked on the door. "Rogue," he called waiting for her to come and open the door. When she didn't come, he tried the doorknob. Twisting the door open, a pit formed in his stomach because she never left her room unlocked.

"Rogue," he called again hoping that he was just being paranoid. As he peeked in though he realized that something was wrong all of her stuff was gone.

Doubling back into the hall he spied Piotr carrying a TV using his massive strength to do it. "Hey, Pete, you seen Rogue?"

"She took off."

"When? Where? Why?" Bobby hurriedly asked. Pete just shrugged though and told him that he had no idea where Rogue had gone. So Bobby came to the conclusion that he had to figure this out on his own. Bobby passed the rec room on his way to see if Storm knew anything about Rogue's whereabouts. Then, he heard a broadcast on the TV that stopped him in his tracks.

"This new mutant cure is causing an uproar in downtown New York…" an announcer was describing the scene at one of the cure facilities. Thinking that she probably went to get the cure Bobby left to go see if he could find her.

Bobby pushed his way through the throng of people and tried calling her name, but it was uselessly. She was too far away and there was too much noise for her to hear him. He started looking for another route to get to her and then he ran into Pyro.

"Johnny," he asked foolishly. "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ Popsicle?" Pyro sneered back at him, making it impossible for Bobby to believe they'd ever been buds. "Getting 'cured' so you can go home to mommy and daddy?"

"Fuck you."

Pyro noticed Bobby still searching the crowd and snapped his fingers.

"Oh I get it. Looking for your girlfriend. Figures she'd be here."

_You really are an asshole,_ Bobby thought. Without consciously realizing it, he'd clenched his fists, his power coating them with a sheen of ice.

"Same old Bobby," Pyro chuckled, and it wasn't a compliment. Bobby wanted to wipe the smirk off the other mutant's face but there were too many bystanders, packed too close around them. "Still scared of a fight."

Bobby heard the faint click of Pyro's Zippo and saw a small ball of fire appear on the flattened palm of an out held hand.

_Oh my God,_ he thought, and made a grab for his former roommate as Pyro headed for the clinic.

"Stop!" he cried uselessly, knowing Pyro wouldn't listen. "John, stop!"

He caught at the other's sleeve, but John sidestepped between some other people, breaking the hold and using them to block Bobby's path while he worked his way closer to the building.

A ways a way another man sent with Pyro on this mission watched the scene unfold before him and then scanned the crowds. A woman with auburn hair and two prominent white stripes in the front caught his eye. _Dat fille looks familiar,_ he thought to himself, wondering where he had seen her before. _Oh she be Rogue, one of the X-Men. Powers of absorption through skin contact. I wonder if I could send the X-Men a message through her._ He then glanced back at his comrade and decided that Pyro could handle himself the man made a beeline for Rogue. His long trench coat swished behind him as he pushed his way through the crowds. As soon as he got close enough he crashed into her and then just continued on walking.

"Hey," Rogue exclaimed, outraged at how incredibly rude he was. She picked up the spilled contents of her purse and then realized that her wallet was now missing. "He stole mah wallet, that dirty scoundrel." Turning around she saw him turning the corner of the building and ran to catch up to him. She rounded the corner and roughly pushed the man against the wall. "Give meh mah wallet."

He quickly turned the tables on her and now had her pinned against the wall. She was trapped between the brick wall and the man's body. "Perhaps you should be more careful cherie." He whispered, dangerously close to her ear. He smelled like cigarette smoke, gumbo, and mix of spices that seemed to fit him just right. Then, he leaned forward and kissed her. At first she resisted, but then she returned the kiss not quite sure what emotions this man was stirring inside of her. And then the inevitable pull of her powers was felt. She saw Magneto with Jean Grey standing before an army of mutants. Then it switched to a scene of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz with a little boy dressed all in white.

The man staggered back and she then realized that these were his memories. In a state of shock, Rogue just stood there as he handed back her wallet and tilted his sunglasses down and winked, "Au revoir, cherie." She had just seen some of the most beautiful eyes ever. His eyes were a deep red on midnight black, they were enchanting. Then, she snapped back to reality and put the pieces together and came to the conclusion that Magneto was planning on attacking Alcatraz. _Ah should warn the X-Men,_ and with that thought in mind she picked up her belongings and fled the scene.

"Fire in the hole," and the building burst up in flames.


	3. Wolverine vs Gambit

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot

Wolverine vs. Gambit 

Logan stood before Xavier's cenotaph, those final moments running through his head. He couldn't understand how a man like Xavier, powerful and determined, could be dead, yet alone killed by one of his favorite pupils. Logan had liked Xavier, he was the one person who had looked past his troubled life and gave him a purpose in life. Xavier had even tried to help him recover his lost memories.

There was something in the air; he could feel it. He didn't know what it was, but he'd be damned if he was caught unawares. It was inching closer and closer, Logan tensed, bending his legs ready to pounce on the would be predator.

Suddenly he heard his name being called, "Logan." Wait a second, that sounded a lot like Jean, Logan thought.

"Come," the voice whispered, "save me." That is Jean Logan realized. She was communicating with him telepathically.

'Where are ya Jean?' Logan thought back. And in his mind she showed him the way and the path that would lead him right to her.

He quietly raced to the garage and hopped on his bike. Then, with a loud roar he was off.

Storm watched him from the window of her loft and was sad to see him go. He was needed here, but he just couldn't see past his love for Jean. She sighed, she really missed her best friend.

The scenery blurred by as Logan zipped past, pushing his bike to its limits. When he came within a few miles of the campsite, he ditched his bike and went on foot. He veered from the path that Jean had set out for him, not sure that he could completely trust her, considering she was with Magneto now.

He listened quietly as he heard the rustle of leaves. Turning his head swiftly he saw a man who seemed to be patrolling the area. Hiding in the surrounding foliage Logan observed the man. There was a tattoo on his neck, some Greek symbol that Logan did not recognize. He didn't even know how he knew it was Greek, he just did.

Logan's claws slowly came out, and when the man came close enough Logan sprung up and stabbed him in the chest. He covered the man's mouth so that he wouldn't scream and give away Logan's element of surprise. He then gently lowered the body to the ground, not making a sound.

He took down two other guards while on his way to Jean. Red eyes watched Logan, unbeknownst to him, from the pushes.

Gambit recognized this man as Logan, or the Wolverine, as one of the X-Men that Storm had told him about. He approached the man from behind, effortlessly gliding along the ground without making a sound.

"Gambit would leave if he were ya homme," startled Wolverine spun around and growled at this new foe.

"And why would I want to do that?" Wolverine snarled back, tensing his muscles and waiting for the opportune time to strike.

"It's dangerous," Gambit vaguely replied as the two men circled each other. Gambit didn't want the X-Men to lose the advantageous element of surprise that they now currently held. That is if the girl understood the message he had inadvertently given her.

Wolverine then leapt and him, claws extended and aimed at Gambit's chest. At the last minute, Gambit sidestepped him and Wolverine missed him by centimeters.

"Gonna have ta be faster dan dat to catch Gambit."

Wolverine growled and lunged at him again, but this time his claws were stopped inches from piercing Gambit by a metal staff. His eyebrows came together, confused as to how the staff had stopped his indestructible claws, and as to where it came from.

"Nah ah ah, can't have ya ruining Gambit's clothes now," he mocked the Wolverine whose tempering was rising as he was having trouble beating this insolent kid.

Gambit pushed him back and swung his staff at Wolverine's head. He missed though as Wolverine ducked and swung his leg out to sweep Gambit. Gambit easily jumped over the outstretched limb and held his staff high in the air with the intent to bring it down on the crouched Wolverine's head. As he came down he was met with thin air as the Wolverine rolled out of harm's way.

Gambit just smirked and leaned his staff on his shoulder, "Come on is dat the best ya got."

See as how Gambit had just left himself wide open with his cockiness, the Wolverine ran at him. Gambit deftly reached into his trench coat pocket and pulled out some playing cards, which immediately began to glow. Then, with deadly accuracy he launched them at the charging Wolverine.

Upon impact with his chest they exploded, and the Wolverine was sent flying through the air. A tree stopped his fly and he crashed to the ground. He slowly stood up and groaned. His chest was covered in blood, but the gaping wounds slowly healed thanks to his healing factor.

"Yah're gonna pay for that," Wolverine snarled at Gambit who just grinned in return. Gambit waited for Wolverine to make the first move.

Wolverine ran straight at him and tried to get him with his adamantium claws. Sparks flew as his claws made contact with the staff. Blow for blow was exchanged, each being blocked and neither making any ground.

Suddenly, Gambit felt someone probing his mental shields, causing him to lose his concentration for a split second. And that split second proved to be a deadly cost on his part as his staff was knocked away and the adamantium claws sliced open his flesh. Blood trickled from the three deep gashes on his chest.

"Well, until next time," Gambit grabbed his staff and sprinted away, knowing that this was a losing battle and that he was needed for the final battle. Explosions rocked the clearing that stopped Wolverine from chasing after Gambit, and when the smoke cleared the Cajun man was nowhere to be seen.

Logan growled and returned to his mission of finding Jean.


	4. Battle Preparations

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot

Battle Preparations

_Knock' Knock. _Piotr Rasputin went to answer the door at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. He opened the door and saw a young man standing on the other side. His hair was a light blonde and he had sky blue eyes. Also, he was tall, but Piotr still towered over him.

"Hello," Piotr said, hoping the man would state his reason for stopping by.

"Hello, umm… I heard this was a safe place for mutants," his statement sounded more like a question to Piotr.

"Yes it is. Come on in," Piotr opened the door wider and let the man enter. "Just follow me," Piotr said and led him to the headmaster's office. It used to be Xavier's office, but now it belonged to Ororo Munroe.

Piotr stopped just outside the oak door and knocked.

"Come in," Ororo answered in reply.

Piotr pushed the door open and the two of them entered the office. Ororo was seated behind her desk, and Bobby was in front of her, recounting his experience at the cure sight. As soon as they entered though, Bobby rose and left, nodding to Piotr on his way out.

The man, remembering his manners, walked up to Ororo and stuck his hand out for a handshake. Ororo stood up and shook his hand.

"I am Warren Worthington III," he announced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Ororo Munroe," she gave him a skeptical look, wondering what the son of the cure creator would be doing in a mansion full of mutants.

At her look Warren continued, "I am a mutant and I need somewhere to stay. I do not support my father's cure," he reassured her.

"And what are your mutant abilities," she questioned him, curious.

He shrugged off his coat and unfurled his wings. The wingspan was enormous and his feathers were a dazzling white.

Ororo gasped slightly, by the goddess he looked like an angel. Then, she gave him a brilliant smile. "Of course you are welcome here. Piotr could you show him to a room."

Piotr nodded and took Warren up to the boy's dormitories.

XXX

Rogue flew through the Institute's doors and then burst into Ororo's office with no preamble. She gasped for breath after all her running.

"Rogue, are you ok?" Ororo was concerned over her friend's disheveled appearance.

After composing herself, Rogue responded, "MagnetoisgonnaattackAlcatraz," she announced in a rush.

"Whoa Rogue, calm down," Ororo soothed and gestured for her to have a seat.

Rogue plopped down in one of the chairs that was situated in front of the mahogany desk, and began her tale.

"I was waiting in line to get the cure," she quickly continued, effectively cutting Ororo off from commenting on what she had just said, "Then, this man with the strangest eyes, red on black, stole my wallet." Ororo nodded, knowing exactly whom she was talking about. "He then kissed me and I saw these images of Magneto with this army and he was gonna' attack Alcatraz." Rogue finished.

"What? Do you know when?" Ororo questioned and Rogue just shook her head in the negative.

Suddenly, the oak doors burst open, yet again and slammed against the wall and there stood Logan. Ororo just raised her eyebrow wondering why he had done that.

"Magneto's on the move and he has an army of mutants with him." Logan announced.

"I know."

"Wha…How?"

Storm just pointed a finger in Rogue's direction. Logan looked startled; he hadn't noticed her presence when he burst in. Then, she jumped up and ran at Logan. He caught her and the two embraced.

_'Hey Storm, just got word from Remy. Magneto's on the move with his army, headed towards Alcatraz and the boy that's held there.' _Tessa's voice floated through Storm's mind.

_'Alright the X-Men are on their way.'_ Storm thought back.

_'My team and I will meet you there.' _A pause, _'Be careful.'_

_'You too.' _And with that Tessa was gone.

Now Storm had all the confirmation she needed. She flicked on the PA system, "X-Men report to the War Room."

Rogue, Storm, and Wolverine headed downstairs. Once everyone was assembled, Storm told them the reason she had called them there.

"X-Men, Magneto plans to attack Alcatraz and he has an army of mutants with him. He wants the little boy that resides there. And under no circumstances is he to accomplish that goal."

"What does he want with the boy?" Bobby wondered.

Hank McCoy having just recently visited the lab on Alcatraz decided to speak up, "the boy is the source of the cure, without him there is no cure." Understanding dawned on everyone.

"Alright X-Men, suit up and meet on the Blackbird." Storm left the room to get changed, soon followed by everyone else.

After Ororo finished changing, she took her seat on the Blackbird, in the pilot's chair. Rogue came in soon after her and sat next to her in the co-pilot's chair. It used to be that Storm would fly the jet with, either Scott, their fearless leader, or Jean, her best friend. God, she missed them.

After the incident at Alkali Lake, Rogue took a few flying lessons from Scott and was now the only other X-Men that knew how to operate the jet. Storm glanced at the women beside her; her hair was up in a high ponytail with the two white streaks framing her face. Her uniform with green piping brought out her emerald green eyes.

Hank McCoy, Beast, boarded next wearing his old uniform, which was a little too small now. He smiled at the two women and took a seat.

Warren came on next, wearing an extra uniform that had sky blue piping and recently added slits in the back to fit his wings through. Storm turned around in her seat and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Warren cut her off.

"My father's there and I want to be there to protect him."

"Fair enough."

Bobby walked up the ramp in his X-Man uniform with ice blue piping. Iceman thought the color suited him. He looked around and took an empty seat. Piotr soon followed him. His uniform was sleeveless for when he transformed into Colossus and his muscles expanded. He also had a silver piping.

Kitty rushed up after him with pink piping on her uniform, and took a seat next to Bobby. Shadowcat and Iceman shared a look and he gave her hand a squeeze in support for the battle that was to come.

Lastly, Wolverine stepped aboard and rolled his shoulders trying to fit more comfortably in his uniform with golden rod piping. He looked at the group assembled before them. They were just kids, they didn't know what a real battle was like.

"As much as what we've lost in the last few days, that's nothing compared to what's on the line." This grabbed everyone's attention and they all turned to give Logan their undivided attention.

"Once we get there, we're not students and teachers anymore. We're not kids and grown ups. We're soldiers."

"We're X-Men," Bobby corrected. "All of us."

"Alright, let's move out," Logan took a seat and buckled in.

XXX

Magneto put his cape on and grabbed his helmet. He stared at it for a moment and the reflection of himself in it. Was he doing the right thing? This was the only thing that would save him if the Phoenix got out of control. Was Charles right when he locked the Phoenix up, was she uncontrollable? Shrugging off his doubts, Magneto slipped the helmet on his head, and walked out to meet his army.

XXX

Pyro laced up his boots, and checked his flamethrowers to make sure they were in working order. He couldn't wait to put the X-Men in their place. Oh, he knew they would be there. They were always trying to stop Magneto, and protect the pathetic humans. An evil grin crossed his face as he thought of the battle up ahead.

XXX

Gambit shrugged on his trench coat and slipped some playing cards into his many pockets. He picked up his bo-staff and then hesitated, after all Magneto could control metal. Yet he couldn't bear to leave it behind, it was a gift from his father so he pocketed it. He slipped on his fingerless gloves and then looked down at his uniform. He had on leather boots and the uniform was made out of type of Kevlar material that was durable and flexible. It was black with the chest plate a bright fuchsia color, so his team would know which one he was. Man, he missed his old uniform, with its large X emblazoned across the chest outlined in fuchsia.

XXX

Tessa glanced down at the large X outlined in white across the chest of her uniform. She was ready to do whatever it took to stop the Phoenix from hurting anymore of her loved ones.

The 19 year old glanced at the man on her right. Standing tall in his uniform outlined in silver was her right hand man and her best friend, Zhane Taft. The blonde boy with curious blue eyes came to the Institute when she was only seven, and so was he. His telekinetic powers had come early due to a tragic accident. They instantly became best friends, and when her father approached her with the idea of a covert operations team with Gambit, Zhane had come with her.

Her eyes cast over the lone suit that was still in its case, black trimmed with a fuchsia color. It belonged to Gambit. The 21-year-old Cajun, a friend of Storm's, had been with Magneto for about two years now. He had quickly climbed the ranks and was a good source of inside information. Tessa and her team had foiled many a plot of Magneto's because of Remy.

Tessa's gaze then fell on the trio of blondes, the three musketeers. Magneto had wanted these three girls because of their powerful and unique powers. Tessa and Zhane though had found the best friends before Magneto, and they then joined the team.

Melissa Cartwright was a tall blonde of 18 years with ocean blue eyes. She had the ability to manipulate and control water, aquakinesis, and her uniform was outlined in a dark blue.

The one next to her was Charissa Bussie, also 18 and tall with amber eyes and strawberry blonde hair. She was Melissa's counterpart, a pyrokinetic. The ability to create and manipulate fire, and her uniform was outlined with a bold, hot pink.

Then, came Rachel Stine. She was tall with platinum blonde hair and light blue eyes. She had the power of invisibility, which came in handy quite often. Her uniform was outlined in a light gray.

Their next recruit was Elizabeth Weber, a petite brunette with deep blue eyes. Remy had found her after one of Magneto's raids on a government building. She was being held with a bunch of other mutants, and Magneto had wanted these freed mutants to join his cause. There was something about this petite 18 year old that could make holograms that caused Remy to slip her a playing card with the address of our base at the time. Then, one day she showed up on our doorstep and I handed her a uniform trimmed in light blue.

Dylan Vancouver was the next to join up; his uniform was outlined in orange. Tessa laughed as she thought of how he came to be a part of the team. Melissa had found a stray dog one day and decided to bring it home with her, when suddenly the dog transformed into a short 16 year old boy with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes, obviously a metamorph. Needless to say, Melissa never brought home any strays again. Since Dylan was a runaway they let him into the fold and he soon became like an annoying brother to them all.

In the corner, a tall boy with spiky bleach blonde hair and cerulean eyes joked around with a slightly shorter boy with dirty blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. They were Andrew Carson and Jace Thomason, respectively. Andy was 18 and was able to defy gravity on himself and other objects; his uniform was trimmed in a golden hue. Jace was 18 and could generate plasma blasts that came from his hands; his uniform was outlined in a deep crimson. We found them embroiled in a fight with Sabertooth. They were holding their own fairly well, but the team stepped in and helped them. Grateful and with nowhere else to go the two boys decided to become a part of the team.

On one of our missions, we needed an expert hacker. Currently we did not have one on our team, but Gambit knew a guy who had worked with the Thieves Guild once upon a time. That man was Alexander Rimaldi, 20, with the powers of electricity. Alex was tall with jet-black hair and electric blue eyes. After that mission, he felt like he could do some real good here and decided to stay. His uniform was trimmed in an electric blue.

Tessa glanced at the tall man that was standing next to Elizabeth. He had spiky dirty blonde hair and azure blue eyes. Elizabeth brought him to the team when one day she stumbled upon him bleeding in the snow. She brought him back to their base and essentially saved his life. Jason Morgan was forever grateful and joined the team, but he never did tell them how he ended up shot and bleeding in the snow. The 20 year old could create balls of energy. He liked to keep to the shadows so his uniform was trimmed in a matte black that you could barely make out.

Tessa saw Dani pulling her platinum blonde hair up into a high ponytail out of her light blue eyes. Danielle Moore was 16 and had the ability of super speed. The ever-perky girl's uniform was outlined in yellow. She had wanted it to be a neon yellow, but I had told her no because it would stick out too much and she finally relented. The girl had seen the team at the Statue of Liberty where Magneto had tried to turn the world's leaders into mutants. She had then followed them back and all but demanded to join the team.

Elizabeth Braddock, Betsy, the exotic Asian with purple hair and violet eyes was the last to join the team. She was 21 with the ability to create psionic knives, and she was also a telepath. Betsy had approached my father asking to leave the Institute, I do not know why, and as an alternative he suggested my team to her and she accepted.

We loaded the jeeps, our form of transportation. The first jeep contained Rachel, the driver, Charissa in shotgun, and Melissa, Andy, and Jace in the back. Following them were Zhane driving, me in shotgun, and Dylan and Dani in the back. Then, Alex drove the third jeep with Betsy in the front passenger seat and Jason and Elizabeth in the back. We then raced out, burning rubber to confront Magneto.


	5. A Battle to End All Wars

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot

A Battle to End all Wars

"Well then," Magneto informed them, "this place has long since outlived its purpose. Let's take it down to the nails."

Magneto then raised his hands high into the air.

At that signal, the mass of mutants who'd been following surged forward with a great, accompanying cry, a dozen fliers assuming the vanguard, scattering in combat pairs across the rock while twenty more streaked after them across the ground.

Juggernaut began to follow, but Magneto motioned him back.

"In chess," he said meditatively, "the pawns go first."

Jean shook her head. _Scott wouldn't have been so dismissive; for him, for Charles, even pawns had value. _But they were dead. It was left to Magneto to seize the day, and lay claim to the future.

As the mutants surged forth the soldiers launched projectiles with darts full of the mutant cure. Many were hit and at first nothing happened, it seemed to be a joke. Then, they fell to the ground convulsing and devolution took place.

"_That_," remarked Magneto from his summit on the bridge, "is why the pawns go first." He shook his head. "Humans and their guns." Magneto tried to pull their weapons away from them, and then he realized that the soldiers' weapons were made up of plastic, not metal. So the humans did learn from experience.

The barrage of mutants was steadily pushing the soldiers back. Arclight, with her shockwaves, was effectively destroying the projectiles filled with the cure darts.

With the paramount threat neutralized, Magneto led his troops ashore. Jean remained at her perch on the bridge, head cocked to one side as though listening to a conversation only she could hear.

The X-Men weren't attempting to mask their thoughts, although they had tech aboard the _Blackbird _that would allow them to try. Ororo was testing her, Jean knew: would she reveal the X-Men's approach to Magneto? Ororo wanted to determine now, before the situation escalated, where Jean's loyalties lay.

Truth be told, Jean still wasn't sure.

Magneto looked, searching for the source of a sound that shouldn't be there-the muted roar of a pair of jet engines. Jean allowed herself a rueful smile. Apparently, the sound baffles weren't quite properly tuned.

"We have visitors," he warned.

Remy looked up and was relieved to see the jet land atop the main building of the cure facility.

Ororo announced her arrival with lightning, a bolt powerful enough to illuminate the island bright as day, dazzling those who saw it almost to the point of blindness and opening a crater in the ground.

_'Aww Stormy why'd ya have ta do dat'_ Gambit thought, rubbing his light sensitive eyes.

In quick succession came three more, bracketing Magneto's cadre of mutants on all sides as Ororo streaked into view across the midnight sky.

While this was happening, in those precious seconds that their adversaries were reeling form Ororo's assault, the X-Men took the field.

Hank McCoy leapt impossibly from roof to wall to roof to wall to wall, bouncing effortlessly back and forth as he made his was to a landing in the yard.

Piotr Rasputin simply dropped, full metal body, like a solid steel rock-despite the risk that represented against the powers of Magneto-to make a nifty crater of his own.

Logan slid down the face of the building, using his claws to thrust into the masonry wall and slow his descent.

Kitty Pryde came down with Rogue in her arms, phasing the pair of them so that when they reached ground level, they simply disappeared into the earth. A moment or so later, they popped right back up, like corks on a wave. Kitty, with Rogue by her side, clambered to the surface. She was grinning with delight. Rogue looked ready to hurl.

"Don't _ever_ do that again."

Bobby Drake slid down a slide of ice of his own creation. He loved the feeling of gliding on ice; it was amazing.

Warren Worthington III unfurled his enormous wings and flew down to make a graceful landing.

The soldiers watched, astounded at how these mutants came to fight on their side.

"Pull back your troops, Lieutenant," McCoy told him, with the full authority that only someone used to having the ear of the president can muster. "Let the X-Men handle this."

"Sir," the lieutenant swallowed, well aware of what McCoy was asking and not altogether sure his men would follow, "this is our post, sir. Six of you, sixty-five of them. Those odds suck! We can help."

Hank acknowledged the offer, knowing what it meant for sapien troops to volunteer to stand shoulder to shoulder with mutants, allowing himself the hopeful thought _Perhaps some lasting good might come from this mess._

"You've done your part and more, Lieutenant," he told the young man. "Go. Now. That's an order."

Hank had no place in the officer's chain of command, but such was the natural force of his voice that the lieutenant responded with a crisp salute and did as he was told.

"Mind you," Hank mused to Logan by his side, "given those odds, he does have a point."

Logan snorted. Hank considered that for someone like the Wolverine, with his temperament and capabilities, he probably thought of this as a fair fight.

"Get together, people," Logan told them. "Side bye side. Whatever comes, we hold the line. We defend this place, and the people in it, at all costs."

Then, the mutants began to fight with the X-Men. Pyro glared at Bobby, just itching to confront his former roommate.

"Not yet," Magneto said in a tone that brooked no room for argument, "Stay by my side."

Pyro clenched his jaw tight, angry that he couldn't go pummel Bobby. A slow grin crept across his face as he realized that he would get his chance sooner or later, he just had to be patient.

'_Come on, were are ya guys' _Gambit wondered and then he quickly glanced at Jean, wondering if that thought had slipped past his mental barriers. Instead, Jean was just looking at the utter destruction going on around her. She then turned and looked straight back at him. Gambit just grinned and winked at her. Then, she turned a way, disgusted at his thoughts.

And then he heard it, the telltale rumble of an engine and the squeak of tires. You would have only heard it had you been listening for it.

The water started rising up into the air, and people began wondering what was going on. Most though, thought that it was just Storm, but Gambit knew better; Hurricane Melissa was on her way.

They were able to sneak past Jean's telepathy with invisibility, telepathy, and a hologram.

Gambit smirked and then lunged at Magneto. He tried to rip off his helmet, but all he succeeded in doing was charging the old man's cape before he was flung away by Jean and her telekinesis.

"Traitor," Jean hissed.

Magneto threw his cape aside as it exploded. Pyro turned his flamethrower on and sent a line of fire at the falling Gambit.

"I don't think so," a tall blonde reached her arm out and absorbed the fire before it was able to scorch Gambit. Pyro just stood frozen, amazed at what this girl could do.

All the combatants turned to stare at the commotion on the bridge.

"Oh no, Remy!" Storm gasped as he was flung over the bridge and landed in the water with a loud splash.

Suddenly, all three jeeps became visible as they zipped past Magneto. As the second jeep went past, one of the passengers caught Magneto's eye.

"Tessa."

At the back of the third jeep, Jason stood up preparing to jump off. Elizabeth grabbed his arm, "Be careful."

"You too," and then he jumped out of the moving vehicle and onto the bridge. He tucked into a roll to break his fall. Then, he went to the edge of the bridge and dived in to the water to save Gambit.

The three jeeps came to a halt in front of the X-Men and the passengers hopped out. Logan recognized one of them as the girl from the funeral, Xavier's daughter.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Logan asked.

"That doesn't matter right now. Just know that we're here to help you," Tessa answered, hating to be short, but knowing that they didn't have time for a Q & A session.

Logan shot a glance at Storm and noticed that she didn't seem too surprised that they showed up. He took his anger at being left out of the loop out on the mutants that were trying to reach the cure facility.

Hank noticed that the new arrivals just happened to be wearing the same type of uniform that the X-Men were.

Kitty let out a yelp as a large grizzly bear attacked a mutant that was approaching her from behind. The bear just waved and continued on by her. Kitty just shook her head and went back to fighting.

Andy and Jace fought side-by-side, tag teaming. Andy would lift them into the air and Jace would blast them away.

An invisible opponent swept through Magneto's ranks. Bursts of water pushed the opposing mutants back as flames licked their clothes and forced them to retreat.

Betsy climbed up onto a lookout post to knock down the mutants that were trying to get onto the roof. She was hit behind and was falling down to the earth below when suddenly a pair of strong arms caught her. She looked up to see a handsome man with white wings.

"Thanks handsome!"

"No problem," Warren then set her on the ground and they started fighting the surrounding mutants.

Angry, Magneto turned to Juggernaut, "The boy we seek is in the main cell block. Get inside. Find the boy. Kill him."

Juggernaut nodded and slammed his helmet onto his head. With a roar he then smashed his way through the combatants to the cure facility.

Zhane looked up as the ground started to shake and saw the Juggernaut headed straight for him. Focusing he put up a telekinetic barrier and tried to push the Juggernaut back. He was slowing down, but Zhane was also getting pushed back. Digging his feet into the ground Zhane pushed harder. Then, he was slammed into the wall, and his eyes widened as the Juggernaut charged at him. Suddenly, he was pulled out of the way, lightning fast.

He looked up and saw Dani, "Thanks."

"What are friends for?" Dani smiled and then sped off.

"He's going for the boy," McCoy yelled.

"Not if I get there first," Kitty yelled back over her shoulder, for she'd started running as soon as Zhane's back hit the wall. Juggernaut couldn't be stopped. Neither could she-only she was a lot less messy about it. Kitty phased straight into the body of the rocky island, and the hill that formed the foundation of the cell house.

She heard walls crashing down ahead, and she knew she was close. Juggernaut then came into view. She jumped and phased so that his next step landed him stuck in the middle of the floor, phased halfway through. She smiled and ran.

"Do you know who you're dealing with? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch," with that he wrenched himself free and gave chase.

Kitty then burst into the boy's room and found him huddled under the bed. She gave him a reassuring smile, "I'm Kitty, one of the X-Men. We're the good guys."

He nodded and grabbed her outstretched hand, "What's happening?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now we have to get you out of here." She caught his hand and yanked him into her arms, shoving herself towards the nearest wall.

Major mistake. She led with her head and for a moment, as stars did a fandango across her mind's eye, she thought she'd broken it for sure. Cracked it wide, just like Zeus, only instead of Athena springing forth full grown, she was losing brain cells by the multitude.

Damnation-the shock actually made her cry.

"What _happened_?" she yowled, pressing the heel of her free hand to her battered forehead.

"Your powers won't work around me. That's my power."

She couldn't help grinning: "Honey-bunny," she told him hurriedly, "Rogue's just gonna _love_ you."

Enter Juggernaut, beyond rage.

"Come over here," Kitty said loudly to Jimmy, making a show of putting him behind her, flat against the wall. They both looked trapped.

Jimmy dropped to his seat on the floor, staring through Kitty's legs at the man-mountain who faced them.

Juggernaut savored the moment.

"Two for the price of one," he growled delightedly, forgetting that Kitty could always phase herself to safety. Or perhaps assuming that maybe she'd run out of gas, that she couldn't play the ghost any longer. Or maybe she was staying solid to protect the brat.

The reason didn't matter to Juggernaut, only the result, which in this case would mean blood-theirs.

He dropped his head to ramming position and kicked himself into gear.

Kitty waited until the very last possible moment as he barreled towards her, building up an impressive head of speed for such a small space. She couldn't afford to misplay this in the slightest, as she had no illusions about her ability to face Juggernaut in a fair fight. For all her strength and skills, she'd be a toothpick in his hands.

He was almost on her when she dropped, a boneless puppet with severed strings, right to the floor to cover Jimmy's body with her own as Juggernaut…

… crashed full tilt into the wall.

Juggernaut created a large hole in the wall and Kitty looked to see if he was getting back up. But his eyes were wide open and his pupils dilated, signaling that nobody was home inside.

Kitty pumped a fist and laughed aloud as Jimmy echoed her.

She started towards the entry hole Juggernaut had made, then changed her mind. She had a better idea, something she hadn't had to do since she turned thirteen.

Leading Jimmy by the hand, she reached for the handle…

… and opened the door.

XXX

The two mutants laughed as they pushed Warren Worthington Jr. to the edge of the building.

"I was just trying to help you."

"Do we _look _like we need help," and with that they pushed him over the edge. They watched, waiting for the splat that would come when he hit the ground. But that never happened; instead Warren's son caught him and flew him to safety.

XXX

"Hey Stormy, miss moi," Storm looked over and saw Remy, soaked battling with mutants back to back with another man that was drenched.

"Thank goodness your okay. I thought you were a goner."

"Come on Stormy, ya know it takes more dan dat to keep Remy down," he threw a grin her way. Storm just rolled her eyes and continued fighting.

"Wait this guy's on our side?" Wolverine growled, remembering the battle that he had with the man.

"Yes Logan," Strom replied. Rogue turned to see what was going on.

"Hey, that's the man that stole mah wallet!" Logan turned and glared at Gambit.

"Guilty, je suis desole," Gambit showed Rogue his pearly whites. Rogue just ignored him and went back to fighting. So Gambit shrugged and did the same.

The X-Men were steadily pushing back Magneto's forces.

Magneto wasn't happy with the turn of events, and responded characteristically. He turned to Pyro. "It's time to end this war," he announced.

There were easily a few hundred cars on the roadway. With a flick of the wrist, Magneto hurled one skyward as if it had just been shot, rocket-propelled, from a catapult.

"Incoming!" Logan yelled, as the vehicle shot over his and Ororo's heads. "Take cover!"

Instead, Colossus strode forward and met the falling vehicle with a punch sufficient to bounce it clear of the island, to land in the bay with a nice splash.

Magneto gave a cue to Pyro, who flicked his flamethrower aflame, and launched a volley of cars this time.

As they cleared the bridge, climbing to the apex of their trajectories, Pyro hit each and every one with a fireball, igniting their gas tanks and using his own control over fire to amplify them until they blazed hotter than any blast furnace.

The sight was eerily beautiful, like watching falling stars.

Pyro grinned, ear to ear, because he was just getting started.

Magneto had launched a half dozen cars, Pyro detonated them in a random and staggered order, one high in the air as a distraction, some much closer to spray the scene with incandescent shrapnel and flaming gasoline, the remainder as ground burst. One impact and explosion chopped the base our form under a guard tower, toppling the three-story structure and forcing a number of troops out into the open where they could be bombarded with white hot metal and living fire.

One car struck Colossus dead on, driving him to the ground. Even as he fought his way back to his feet and pitched the wreckage into the water, Pyro surrounded him with flame, attacking him with salamander-streamers from the other burning cars with such intensity that the armored X-Man quickly began to glow red hot himself, radiating such incredible heat that he became a danger to anyone close by. He stepped too close to a pile of wreckage and the wood there instantly and spectacularly burst into flame, which Pyro turned against him. During his time at Xavier's school, they'd often speculated about the big Russian's resistance to heat-just how good _was _that armor- but no one had ever subjected him anything approaching the ultimate test, even in the Danger Room. Professor Xavier felt it was far too dangerous

_Time_, Pyro figured, _for me to take Mr. Muscle where the prof was too scared to go._

More cars led to more fire, and Pyro ran streamers from one blaze to the next, building a fence across the battlefield that allowed no one to escape, gradually building the intensity to the point where it could explode into a fire storm capable of incinerating the island. Anyone not incinerated outright would suffocate as the great fire sucked all the oxygen away from ground level. By the time he was done, there'd be nothing left to mark the presence of any of the island's defenders, not bones-except perhaps the Wolverine's-not even ashes.

Afterwards, for fun, maybe he'd start to work on San Francisco itself, by carving his name across the city in letters ten blocks high.

And then Charissa had to come and spoil his fun by absorbing all his flames. Frustrated Pyro kept throwing flames out, even faster than before. Piotr shot her a grateful look as she kept the flames from reaching him and he was able to cool down. She began buckling under the intensity. She couldn't absorb this much without releasing any of it, but that was not an option now. Then, she collapsed to her knees and Melissa rushed out and dragged her to safety behind some debris.

"Can you douse them?" Charissa asked Melissa, hoping that just because she couldn't do it that someone else could.

Melissa shook her head, "No, it would create too much steam, which would burn worse."

Amidst the growing holocaust, Bobby yelled to Logan, "What can we do?"

He looked to Storm, who shook her head.

"John and Magneto are working together," she replied, refusing as she always did to use the code name John Allerdyce had adopted. "Creating a fire dome over the island high enough to deal with any rain I can bring to bear, combined with a magnetic field that cripples my control over the weather. I can't manifest a storm powerful enough to do us any good, _or _any lightning."

Logan growled, "Sonsofbitches picked the perfect time to quit being divas."

Then, he paused, eyes caught by some loose cartridges from the soldiers' dart guns that hadn't been destroyed by Arclight's earlier attack.

"Okay," he said, shuffling the elements of his plan together like a deck of cards, thinking fast, dealing out orders faster, "they work as a team, we work better."

He held out his hand, with the ampoules he'd gathered. Ororo picked up the cue as if they were both telepaths.

"Best defense is a good offense?"

"Yo, Popsicle," he called to Bobby.

"Don't call me that!"

"Make me-but first, you figure you can take out your old bud?"

Bobby gave Pyro a long, hard look. In all their sessions in the Danger Room, every test of their powers, John had come out on top. He knew Pyro was counting on that.

He also knew they had no alternative. He was already gasping, and each harsh breath left his mouth and throat dry, his chest aching. Maybe a minute more, they'd likely be breathing flame.

He signaled Logan. He was good to go. Logan then went to go converse with Beast.

Magneto sent another car in their general direction, Pyro ignited it…

…but this time, a _whoosh _of ice extinguished the flames before they had a chance to get properly burning. The car was quickly coated, made so cold that when it crashed to the ground it shattered to bits, its metal component turned instantly brittle as dry twigs.

Before them, silhouetted against the background of Pyro's flames, which still imprisoned the sapien troops, stood Bobby Drake.

Magneto nodded to Pyro and Pyro stepped away from him and bounded down to the courtyard to face Bobby. His body language exuded confidence and the fact that he knew exactly who the winner of this match was going to be. And he was looking forward to enjoying every delicious minute.

From the surrounding fire, he hurled twin pillars of flame at his former roommate.

True to his code name, Iceman parried as he had every time they'd fought in the past, with barriers of ice. Pyro shrugged and upped the ante, aware as he did that as he poured more and more concentration and energy into his confrontation with Bobby, he was allowing the barrier walls he'd created to fade away and the troops he enclosed to race for fresh shelter. He wasn't bothered, though. Once he was done here he'd simply stoke the flames to an even higher intensity than before. The poor saps were just prolonging the inevitable, just like Iceman…

… whose ice was melting at a rather distressing rate, allowing the flames to approach ever closer. He was sweating buckets. Soon he'd be burning.

"Same old Bobby," mocked Pyro, deciding the time had come to put his former friend out of his misery. "Maybe you should go back to school."

Puddles of water surrounded his feet and he was sweating, enduring this torment as long as he was able to, to buy his fellow X-Men the time they needed. Suddenly, he realized that he wasn't just generated cold, _he_ was cold. His finger was coated with ice, yet it bent just like normal, the process of transformation accelerating as it swept up his arm. Bobby then grabbed John's hands as soon as he got close enough and iced the other man's arms, effectively cutting off the source of the flame.

Pyro gasped as he noticed that Bobby was covered in ice, an ice like armor.

"Maybe you should have never left," Bobby countered as he knocked Pyro unconscious.

XXX

A fog soon enveloped the battleground.

Logan tapped Colossus on the shoulder. "Okay, Tin-man, time for that fastball special." Colossus took some steps towards Logan and grasped him by the belt.

"Make it a strike," Logan challenged him.

Colossus made it a bullet, right on the mark.

Of course, Magneto sensed him coming.

Without even sparing a glance, he raised a hand and successive waves of magnetic force punched the X-Man into the roadway more than hard enough to make an impression.

Magneto didn't bother being gentle. He used Logan's body to create a trench right down to the underlying steel as he reeled him in the rest of the way.

"I warned you," he chided, ever so gently, ever so finally, making abundantly clear they would not dance this particular dance again.

"You never learn, do you?" he mock lamented, raising a hand to separate Logan from his adamantium once and for all.

"Actually," Logan replied quite pleasantly, "I do."

Too late, Magneto sensed another presence. He spun around, and the fog around him cleared, revealing the form of the Beast-almost invisible against the night thanks to his dark fur and uniform-hanging upside down form one of the suspender cables.

Hank flashed fangs in a grin and flicked a finger at the X-Men's oldest adversary.

Magneto felt a sting across his cheek and the fingers he clasped there came away colored with the merest thread of blood.

In shock, he took a step away from the Beast. His legs lost all strength. He collapsed to hands and knees in the face of agony such as he had never imagined, much less experienced.

Around Logan, all sense of pressure and pain faded. He stood up and looked down upon Magneto. It would be so easy to kill him now, but he just couldn't do it.

"I'm…" Magneto said, unable to go further.

"One of them," Logan finished for him. "It should have never come to this."

Then, came the screams.

Another wave of soldiers had attacked, and this time Jean didn't bother with just their weapons, she erased the men as well.

"Jean!" Logan called, imperative to get her attention before things could turn any worse. In that regard, he'd reckoned without Magneto, who spoke the moment Jean made eye contact with them all.

"You see, my child," he said in a voice that could barely be heard but with thought that rang out like a clarion call. "Look at me. Look into their hearts. This is what _they_ want. For _all_ of us."

She didn't like that idea.

The water began to rise high up into the air, and Charissa looked at Melissa.

"It's not me," her voice quivered in fear.

Energy began to pulse from Jean's body, and her eyes were now a soulless black. Jean was no longer there; it was now just the Phoenix. Soldiers ran for their lives as she ripped buildings from the ground, and weapons and debris began to rise into the air. Then, she was ripping them apart at the subatomic level. Pretty soon that would include people.

"What have I done?" Magneto trembled in fear as the Phoenix destroyed everything that she could get a hold of.

Tessa raced towards Zhane and grabbed his hand in a tight grip as they locked themselves into a battle to the death with the Phoenix. Tessa with her telepathy and Zhane with his telekinesis.

The objects floating in the air began to drop as the Phoenix lost her focus on them. She zoomed in on the two who dared confront her, the Phoenix.

Tessa closed her blue eyes as she put all her concentration into the battle that was raging in her mind with the Phoenix.

Beads of sweat rolled down all three faces as they pushed their abilities as far as they would go.

Most on the island were running for their lives, realizing that this would be either the end of the Phoenix or the end of them.

Then, there was a blinding white light tinged with red. Everyone was knocked off their feet, as there was a telekinetic and telepathic backlash. And finally everyone's world turned black.


	6. Aftermath

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot

**Aftermath**

"Ahhh…" a loud scream pierced the air.

"Rogue!" Bobby shouted as he ran out from behind the wall of ice he had created to protect him and John, and went in search of his screaming girlfriend. He raced over to where the scream originated, and tried to pull up the wall that she was stuck underneath. Bobby grunted with the effort, it was just too heavy. Then, suddenly he lifted it and he looked up to see Piotr across from him lifting up the other side. So together they moved the fallen wall to uncover a trembling Rogue underneath Remy.

Bobby pushed Gambit aside and pulled Rogue into his arms. "What happened?" he asked her as she sobbed uncontrollable. And then, "What did he do to her?" as Bobby got a glimpse of what used to be her emerald green eyes, they were now scarlet against a black abyss.

She sobbed even harder as she thought back on what happened.

_She was sent flying back by the telekinetic backlash and was blinded by the white light. Then, she collided with something solid. She thought it was a wall until a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and the person broke her fall. _

_Opening her eyes after her fall she gasped as she saw a wall that was going to crush them on its way down. The man rolled over and covered her body with his own. It was then that she realized the man was Gambit. The wall smashed into his back, and he tried to hold it up to keep it from crushing her. But it was just too heavy and he crashed down on top of her, cheek to cheek. Then, came the inevitable pull of her powers._

_She was on the street watching a man and she thought he would be a prime target. So she walked past him and slipped her hand into his pocket. The man grabbed her wrist and she was caught._

"_Mais, père what if Remy don' wanna?" Rogue seemingly questioned of the man that she had been caught trying to pickpocket. _

"_You will do it for the guild Remy."_

_Sabertooth was standing before her, "pick one!" he growled as he held a woman and a man dangling them above a building and let go. The view zoomed out and you could see the woman's mangled body lying on the ground._

_Now she was fighting with some man, Julien, who had challenged her to a duel. She stabbed him and blood gushed from his chest. _

_After that, she was in front of a number of people who seemed to be judging her, as her eyes were downcast._

"_You are banished from the guild and never to return to New Orleans." Pained at the sentence she left her family and her home._

_She dropped her bag and stood before a door, and sighed before she knocked. A women with white hair answered, Ororo. She gasped, "Remy!"_

"_Stormy!" And the two embraced._

_She sat in a chair across from Xavier, and a blonde girl sat to the right of her._

_Xavier steepled his fingers, "I fear a war is brewing," he began, "between mutants and non-mutants." She nodded, wondering where this was going._

"_Magneto's actions will not go unpunished for long," Xavier continued, "and I fear that the government will punish all mutants. I think it would be best to keep a close eye on Magneto and to try and prevent this war. Remy, I believe with your skills, and the fact that Magneto doesn't know about you, that you would be best suited to the task."_

"_Ya mean like a covert ops?"_

"_Exactly. Now Tessa I would like you to be the liason between Remy and the X-Men. You will form a secret team whose mission is to put a stop to Magneto."_

"_Why me?"_

"_Why not? You are a powerful telepath, making communication between everyone easy and undetectable. Also, you are a fine young women who would make a great leader." _

_Tessa smiled at the praise, "Alright, I'm in."_

"_Remy too."_

_Ororo pulled back from their hug, "Be careful Remy."_

"_Remy's always careful," Ororo just rolled her eyes and pulled him in for one last hug before he had to leave._

"_Gambit don't get paid enough for dis," she muttered as she looked down from her perch 12 stories up. Finding the right window she put her finger to the pane and charged a smiley face and moved away as it exploded._

_Dead bodies littered the floor as she stormed a government building with Magneto's troops. She grabbed the lock on one of the cells and charged it. It exploded and she let herself in. In the corner, a petit brunette was huddled and she looked up with her blue eyes as she walked in. A gamut of emotions coursed through her: anger and pain, then relief, and finally determination. She extended her hand to help the girl up, and as their hands met she handed the girl a playing card._

_She winced in pain as the three metal claws sliced her chest. "Well until next time," and with that she sprinted away after throwing charged cards around the clearing to cover her exit._

_Hopping off her bike she looked around, thinking that the place would do. No one was around for miles. Thinking hard she tried calling out for Tessa. It wasn't easy communicating with a telepath when you weren't one, but over the years it had gotten easier, and Tessa kept a mind's ear open for him._

'_Tessa. Tessa.'_

'_Yes Gambit.'_

'_Bonjour cherie, Magneto is movin' out tomorrow for Alcatraz. He's after de boy. So get your cute butt in gear and warn the X-Men.'_

'_Thanks Gambit, and no more comments about my butt and get that image out of your head.'_

'_Desole chere, be careful.'_

'_You too. Goodbye.'_

'_Au revoir.'_

Rogue was pulled out of her memories as she felt a hot tingling sensation in her hands. She looked down at them and gasped as she saw that they were glowing pink.

Storm glanced at her from her position checking Gambit's pulse. Following Rogue's gaze Storm leapt up and ripped the glowing gloves off her hands and threw them into the air where they exploded. 

XXX

"Ugh…" Andy groaned as he pushed raised rubble off of himself. He stood up and dusted himself off and checked himself for injuries, nothing too serious just a couple of cuts and bruises. He looked to the right as he heard movement.

"Jace, is that you?" He asked as he saw someone moving underneath a pile of debris.

"Yeah, could ya lend me a hand?" Andy rushed over and started pulling rubble off his friend. Once he was clear, Andy grabbed his hand and hauled him up.

"Thanks man."

"No problem." Both boys noticed that Jace's right arm was hanging limply at his side. "Looks like it's dislocated. Want me to pop it back in?"

"Yeah."

"Alright on the count of three," Jace braced himself for the pain to come.

"Three," and Andy popped it back in as Jace screamed in pain.

"That wasn't three," Jace groaned through clenched teeth.

"Didn't want you to chicken out," Andy grinned as Jace glared at him.

"Help!"

"Somebody help!"

The boys' eyes widened, "the girls," they exclaimed in unison and raced towards the shouting.

Arriving upon the scene, they saw Rachel and Charissa, grimy and dirty, trying to move one of the jeeps that they had arrived in that was lying on its side.

"What's going on?" Jace asked as they ran up.

Rachel looked up at the two boys in relief, "Melissa's stuck under the jeep and we can't move it."

Upon closer inspection, the two could see that Melissa was indeed on the ground with her legs crushed beneath the jeep. She had various cuts from the glass from the jeep and was beginning to panic as she futilely pushed at the vehicle.

"Alright, stand back," Andy said taking charge. The two girls quickly moved out of the way, wanting their friend to be freed as soon as possible. Andy lifted his hands into the air and the jeep flew straight up, high into the air as it lost the gravitational force that held it down to Earth.

Charissa and Rachel ran to their fallen comrade and pulled her up and out of the way as Andy dropped his hands and the jeep came crashing back down to Earth. Melissa hobbled over to Andy, her arms around Rachel and Charissa's shoulders for support. It looked like one of her legs was broken. When she reached him she smiled up at him, "Thanks Andy!"

He smiled and shrugged, "No problem at all! Here, let me help you," glancing down at her leg, he walked over and scooped her up into his arms. Melissa gasped at the unexpected action and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Lets get you to one of the helicopters so that they can take you to a hospital to get your leg looked at."

Andy looked down at her as she started to pull away, "No! I'm not leaving until I know that everyone is okay."

"Alright, alright stop struggling." Melissa stopped and rested her head against his chest and listened to his beating heart as she worried about the rest of her teammates.

XXX

"Jean!" Logan shouted as he made his way through the rubble toward her. His cuts were healing, leaving only a faint trace of blood behind, and his broken bones were resetting themselves as his healing factor kicked in.

He threw the debris off her and pulled her to his chest with tears trailing down his face, she looked so pale and lifeless. Then, he felt a pulse. _She was alive!_

XXX

Warren pushed the debris off himself and stood up. He unfurled his wings to check that they were not damaged. Taking flight he scoured the ruins in search of survivors. A flash of purple caught his attention amidst the desolate land, after closer examination he realized that it was the woman he had caught earlier as she plummeted down to Earth. Swooping down with a graceful landing he uncovered her and scooped her unconscious body into his arms.

XXX

Alex was pushing the rubble of himself when he felt a breeze and looked up.

"Need a hand," Dani asked as she began to help free him before he even had time to reply.

"Thanks," Alex said as he grabbed Dani's proffered hand to help him up.

"You okay?" Dani asked as she heard his sharp intake of air as he stood up.

"I think I just cracked a few ribs. You?" He looked her up and down and noticed that there was not a speck of soot on her, and she did not look like she had been caught in a telekinetic backlash.

She looked away sheepishly, "I kind of ran away before the backlash. What, I thought a healthy Dani would be better suited to help others in the aftermath than a Dani who was sore and grumpy," she explained at his incredulous look.

He laughed and then winced as pain wracked through his body because of his broken ribs, "Don't make me laugh."

"Alright, lets just take this nice and easy." Dani wrapped an arm around Alex and helped him reach medical attention.

XXX

Kitty groaned and phased herself through the rubble that was covering her. It took her a few moments to remember what happened, and then it hit her, she phased through the debris.

"Jimmy!" She started frantically digging through the rubble, looking for the boy that they had come here to save.

She gasped with relief when she found him and saw his chest moving up and down. She pulled him out and picked him up with a little effort and went in search of the X-Men.

XXX

Dylan opened his eyes and let out a moan as he remembered what happened. He was in mid flight as a hawk trying to escape the backlash, but it caught him and he fell to the ground hard as he shifted back into regular old Dylan Vancouver. He tried pushing himself up, but a pain shot up his wrist and he fell back down. Glancing at his wrist he noticed that it seemed to be broken and was beginning to swell.

"You alright son?" Hank McCoy bounded over as he saw the boy struggling to get up.

"Yeah, I just think my wrist is broken. I must have fallen on it," Dylan grabbed the extended blue, furry hand to pull himself up.

XXX

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" Jason called frantically as he began to panic and ran around searching for her. He didn't know where she was when the backlash struck so he had no idea where to begin to look for her.

Luckily for him she answered his calls, "Jason!"

The two ran to each other and embraced each other in a bone-crushing hug. He pushed her back, looking her up and down for any injuries, but other than a gash on her cheek he could see none. As he did this, she returned the favor and was worried by the deep wound on his head that left dried blood all along the side of his face.

Then, their eyes met, ice blue on cerulean, "I don't know what I would do if I lost you," Jason began as he licked his lips nervously, "I love you Elizabeth."

"I love you too Jason," and they sealed their proclamations of love with a deep, passionate kiss.

XXX

It seemed as if everyone was pulled to ground zero, the spot that was in the center of where the Phoenix, Tessa, and Zhane duked it out. It was the one clear zone since it was the epicenter of the backlash and the backlash pushed outwards, pushing everything away from it.

Counting heads, Rachel realized that two from her team were missing, "Where's Zhane and Tessa?"

Everyone else looked around, also noticing that they were M.I.A. That's when Jason noticed a hand under the rubble a few feet from where Zhane and Tessa had been standing as they battled the Phoenix. He raced over and started to uncover what was buried underneath.

Elizabeth gasped at the sight that was uncovered. Dani gripped Alex tighter and turned away, but it was useless, the image was burned on her mind's eye. Melissa buried her head in Andy's chest, and he tightened his grip as his knees became weak.

"Are they…" Jace trailed off, not able to finish.

Both Zhane and Tessa were unconscious and had cuts and bruises all over their bodies. The worst part though was the pole that was jutting out through Tessa's chest that stained her uniform red. And through it all the two never lost a hold of each other as they were still holding hands.


	7. New Beginnings

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot.

New Beginnings

**1 Week Later**

"Now what?" Melissa asked as they sat in one of the rec rooms of the mansion in Westchester, New York, home of the X-Men.

She was sitting on the couch her right leg stretched out in front of her resting on the coffee table as Elizabeth sat on the floor next to her drawing on her cast. Dani and Dylan sat next to her on the couch and the sounds of cars crashing could be heard from the video game they were playing, despite the fact that Dylan's wrist was in a bright orange cast

On the opposite side of the couch as Elizabeth, Betsy was sprawled out with a magazine in front of her and her arm outstretched as Rachel painted her nails a dark purple. Across the room Andy and Jace played a game of pool against Jason and Alex; which they were currently loosing as Jace rubbed his sore shoulder that hadn't fully healed from its injury but was finally free of its sling.

"We wait," Jason stood up after taking his shot and sinking the eight ball.

Upon arriving at the Institute, a third of their team was hospitalized and they had no choice but to accept help from the X-Men as they were in way over their heads. After a couple days, Betsy woke up with a severe headache due to the backlash, but was alright other than that so she was released from the medical wing. However, Tessa, Zhane, and Remy still lay in comas.

The X-Men offered them rooms once it seemed that it would be a longer stay than any of them had previously thought. Melissa, Charissa, and Rachel were in one room while Betsy, Elizabeth, and Dani were in another. Jace, Andy, and Dylan shared a room and Jason and Alex shared a room with a bed waiting for Zhane when he woke up.

The silence was broken as Rogue and Bobby stormed past arguing, a common sight these days.

"Why do you insist on spending your days just sitting by his bed? You don't even know him," Bobby followed his girlfriend down to the lower levels.

She spun around, stopping him in his tracks, "Maybe cause it's mah fault, Bobby. Why can't ya just understand," and spinning on her heel she entered the med bay.

"I do, but…"Bobby angrily pursued her, but upon catching Hank's pointed look he huffed and threw his hands up as he went back upstairs realizing that Hank was right and the med bay was not the place for this argument.

"Looks like they're at it again," John commented as he nibbled on the chocolate chip cookie Charissa had snatched from last night's dinner for him.

"When aren't they," Charissa replied with a roll of her eyes. She had been put on guard duty when it was decided to keep John at the mansion since she could control any flames that he would try and use to escape. It hadn't been so easy in the beginning though.

_ John stirred and groaned as he opened his eyes. He looked around at his surroundings as he tried to sit up._

_ "Whoa, easy there," a girl rushed over and helped him to sit up, "here you must be thirsty," she filled a cup with water and he reached his hand out to take it. That's when he saw that it was wrapped in bandages._

_ "I got it," she put a straw in the cup and held it up for him. Disgusted he smacked the cup out of her hand, spilling the water on himself and her._

_ "What the hell!" She jumped back and grabbed some paper towels to dry herself off. Then, recognizing his surroundings he fell back onto his pillow and groaned some more._

_ "Are you in pain?" he just ignored her though and continued staring at the wall._

_ The girl pressed a button on the wall and spoke into the intercom, "Hank, he's awake,"_

_ A furry, blue beast came in then and checked his vitals. It seemed the mansion had gained some new residents since he had last been there._

_ It was the following day and John still hadn't said a word to the girl that was watching over him._

_ "Alright, I think we got off on the wrong foot yesterday. I understand you had just woken up and were a bit disoriented. My name's Charissa," She flashed a bright smile his way but John didn't even roll over to acknowledge her._

_ "Fine," and she settled into her chair reading a magazine._

_ This was how Hank found them when he came in several hours later to check on the progress of his patient and to relieve Charissa for a bit._

_ As Charissa left the room, Hank turned to John, "You know, you could be a little nicer to her. She did save your hands after all."_

_ Charissa returned and plopped back down into her chair._

_ "The name's John."_

"Alright, 6 D's and 1 C," Charissa tallied up the total from John's quiz, "Dauntless," she told him the result.

"And did you expect anything else," John grinned.

"From you no," Charissa laughed.

"C'mon join me in my faction and we can be Dauntless together," John waggled his eyebrows.

"Shut up," she punched him in the shoulder as he laughed.

"Hank!"

Charissa and John exchanged curious glances as the blue man burst through the doors. Putting down her book Charissa followed after him, trusting John to remain out of trouble.

"He's waking up," Rogue exclaimed as Hank began to check on Remy.

"Is Remy in heaven, Cherie?" The first thing Remy saw when he opened his red on black eyes was a beautiful woman leaning over him. Then, a big blue and furry mutant stepped into his view, "hmm this sure is some weird heaven of mine. Oh well Remy can make do."

Hank chuckled, "Remy you are not dead. You are at Xavier's Institute for gifted youngsters."

"Oh," Remy frowned and groaned at the blinding light that Hank insisted on shining in his eyes.

"You seem to be fine, vitals all check out," Hank was interrupted.

"Good, then Remy can just get goin," He pushed himself up in bed but then let out a moan as the room began spinning and he flopped back down.

"As I was saying, you're just a little weak and I would like to monitor you for today, but you can most likely leave tomorrow," Hank finished.

"Merci, Doc. What happened?"

"I trust Rogue can fill you in," Hank had caught the girls just as she was trying to slip out.

"Yeah, sure thang Hank," she walked back to the man's bedside. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time, but now that it was actually here she wasn't sure what to do.

XXX

Charissa had run upstairs to tell everyone the news.

"Remy's awake!"

"What!"

"Really!"

"To the med bay!"

The whole team made their way downstairs to welcome back their fallen teammate.

"Ah'm sorry. Ah should go," Rogue got up to leave as she finished filling Remy in on what happened and his friends entered the med bay.

"Wait chere," Remy grabbed her hand, "It's not ya fault, but ya could make it up to Remy by keeping him company," he flashed her his most charming smile.

"Alright," Rogue sat back down in her chair. She did owe him after all since she was the one to put him here.

"Remy," Elizabeth was the first of many to hug him even though since he was an undercover agent he didn't really interact face to face with his team. Thus they didn't really know him all that well, but he was still one of them.

XXX

Deciding he needed some fresh air Bobby headed outside.

Noticing his friend's downtrodden expression Warren made his way over to him, "Hey Bobby want to shoot some hoops? Play a little one on one,"

"Sure," Bobby agreed hoping to take his mind off things.

"So what's up," Warren checked the ball. When Bobby just shrugged, Warren took a guess, "Rogue?"

Bobby sighed as Warren pulled back and easily sunk the ball into the hoop. "I just don't understand why she feels the need to constantly sit by his side, she barely even knows the guy."

Warren tried to dribble the ball past Bobby, but Bobby easily stole the ball and then scored a basket.

The winged man tossed the ball back to Bobby to check it and responded, "Just give her some time, she feels guilty. If this is what she feels she needs to do to repent, then you have to let her. Otherwise you will just drive a wedge between the two of you."

"I guess you're right," and with Warren distracted Bobby ran past him and sank the ball with a layup.

The two continued their game, not really keeping score just playing for fun.

XXX

"Ok Jimmy today we are just going to test your abilities, see what your strengths and weaknesses are so we have an idea of the direction to take your training," Storm addressed the mutant boy who they had rescued on Alcatraz on that fateful day.

The two stood in the danger room, Storm in her uniform and Jimmy in sweats.

"First let's see the range of your abilities," Storm put some distance between them and activated her powers creating a whirlwind around herself. Then she took careful steps towards the boy to see when his powers would activate.

"Alright very good Jimmy," she stopped once she came into the range of Jimmy's powers and her powers were null and void. They continued these simple exercises to gauge Jimmy's abilities

"Storm," she looked up to the control booth and saw Hank. She nodded to let him know that she heard him, "Remy's awake."

Ororo smiled and patted Jimmy on the back as she led him out of the room, "You did good today."

Parting ways Ororo made her way to see the man that was like a brother to her. "Remy!" She enveloped him in a bear hug.

"Stormy," she glared at him, but let him slide since she was so glad that he was finally awake.

"Rogue don't you have a Danger Room session with Logan?"

"Oh right," she scrambled out of her chair, "Bye Remy."

"Have fun, Cherie," he laughed as he recalled the Danger Room wasn't all that fun.

Ororo noticed how Remy watched Rogue as she left the med bay and smacked his arm.

"Ow chere," Remy rubbed the spot on his arm where she had hit him, "Remy is injured ya know."

"And that's one of my students." Remy just waggled his eyebrows which earned him another smack.

XXX

Rogue, Iceman, Shadowcat, Colossus, Angel, and Jubilee all stood in uniform facing Wolverine as he explained the details of today's exercise.

They were running the same obstacle course that they ran three days ago to see if they improved their time any.

The course required teamwork and the time only stopped when the last person crossed the finish line. So it was in their best interest to help each other using their various skills.

Kitty phased through the brick wall as Angel flew over it with Jubilee in his arms. Bobby made an ice slide, but as he held his hand out for Rogue to join him she never took it. Piotr hoisted Rogue over the wall and then climbed over it himself in his metallic form.

Five of them crawled army style under the barbed wire as Shadowcat simply phased and walked through it. They then ran through the tires old school style, must have been something Wolverine enjoyed watching cause none of them really saw the point of it.

When they finally crossed the finish line, they all turned to Wolverine awaiting the results.

"40 seconds slower than last time, laps all of you!"

Bobby hung his head, "How many?"

"Until I tell you to stop!" They all jerked and quickly started running as Logan yelled at them.

"Maybe if you guys left your issues at the door when you entered the Danger Room you wouldn't have a problem working together," Wolverine settled his steely glare on Rogue who could feel his eyes on her but chose to ignore him as she continued running.

"C'mon Firecracker! I know you're new to this, but pick up the pace you're laggin' behind," Jubilee pumped her legs faster, trying to prove herself. Prove that she was good enough to be an X-Man.

XXX

Night had fallen and Charissa was making her way to her bedroom when she came across John in the foyer halfway out the front door, "Where are you going?"

John let his hand fall from the door and turned around to face the girl that had become a good friend over the past week, "Hank released me."

"Oh," Charissa fidgeted why hadn't she been told that.

"So I guess this is goodbye," John had hoped to avoid this awkward conversation.

Charissa reached into her pocket and tossed the object to John, "I believe this belongs to you."

John looked at the object he held in his hands. It was his lighter with the shark on it. He thought he lost it during the battle.

"So where are you headed," Charissa wondered.

John shrugged not really sure. The Brotherhood was no more so he was on his own now.

"You're always welcome here," John looked up and watched as Charissa walked up the stairs and out of sight.


	8. Gone

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot.

**Gone**

**Knock! Knock!**

Charissa swung open the door to the room that she shared with her two best friends: Melissa and Rachel.

"Hey uh… I thought you left," she was startled to see John Allerdyce at her door fidgeting nervously.

"Um… yeah," John let out a nervous breath and ran a hand through his hair and decided to just take the plunge. Pulling his other hand from behind his back he presented a red rose.

"I realized I never really thanked you for saving my hands," he smiled sheepishly and handed the flower to her. He had left and did some serious thinking about his life. Then, he went to the flower shop, but realized that he could not afford anything decent. So he hoped no one noticed the missing rose from what used to be the Professor's garden.

"Aw, thanks," Charissa accepted the rose and looked around the room for something to put it in.

"Hey, I was still drinking that!" Rachel pouted as Charissa grabbed her bottle of water and stuck her rose in it. They hadn't really had time to settle in yet so that would have to do for now.

"We were just about to meet the boys and grab something to eat, wanna join us?" Charissa beamed at John, glad that he had decided to stay.

"Yeah sure," John grinned as Charissa linked arms with him and led him down the hall.

"Come on gimp lets go I'm hungry," Charissa teased her friend as the crutches forced her to lag behind.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Melissa whined as she deftly maneuvered herself having become accustomed to the crutches, but still moving a lot slower than she was used to.

"When is the cast going to be removed?" Rachel questioned her friend.

"I have an appointment later with Hank. So hopefully later today," Melissa crossed her fingers desperately hoping that would be the case.

"That's awesome," Rachel patted her friend on the back.

"Yeah then you can finally wash that leg so it won't stink so much," Charissa called back and Melissa retaliated with a whack to the leg from her crutch.

"Ow," Charissa turned but realized she was outgunned even though her friend was crippled. Melissa smirked triumphantly she knew these crutches had to be good for something.

"Hello ladies," Andy grinned as they met up with the girls on their way to the cafeteria.

John had met both girls as they had visited Charissa in the hospital while she was on guard duty, but he had only heard about the two guys.

"Hey guys, this is John. John this is Andy," Charissa indicated the tall blonde and then introduced the shorter boy whose blonde highlights were fading to reveal a head of brown hair, "and that's Jace."

"Right the other pyro," Jace shook his hand.

"Just don't set my clothes on fire and we'll be cool."

"I accidentally do that one time and you've never let me live it down," everyone laughed at their friend's expense. Charissa shook her head, but had a smirk on her face as she remembered the funny dance that Andy had done trying to put the flames out.

"Haha, you've got a deal," John shook Andy's hand.

The six grabbed some food and some seats and chatted away, getting to know the new comer.

"Ah John, nice to see you've accepted our offer," Ororo Munroe, the new headmaster, approached their table.

"Uh yes Ms. Munroe," John had trouble meeting his old teacher's eyes as he recalled the actions he had taken after leaving the Institute.

"If you'd like I can show you to your new room now."

"Yeah, that'd be great," not that he had much stuff to put in his room, but it would be better than the infirmary that's for sure.

"I'd rather not have my old room if that's ok," after what he had done he didn't think he would be able to sleep comfortably in a room with his former best friend.

"That's quite alright seeing as Bobby has a new roommate already," Ororo had placed Warren there hoping that it would help Bobby get over the fact that his best friend had deserted him and joined what he considered to be the enemy.

"Here you are," Ms. Munroe stopped at a bedroom and knocked pushing the door open.

"No way am I sharing with this traitor!" John fumed as he saw Remy sitting on one of the beds talking to Rogue.

"Remy's got this Stormy. Maybe its best that ya leave chere," Remy stood up knowing that he and John needed to talk alone and sort through some issues.

Rogue gave his hand a light squeeze and left with Ororo.

John threw his stuff at the foot of the vacant bed and crossed his arms as he laid down on the bed, "I have nothing to say to you."

"That's fine, but if ya could just hear Remy out," Remy began but after waiting for a response that never came he forged ahead, "look Remy never meant to hurt ya, it was all about Magneto really."

"I thought we were friends Remy, but I guess it was all just a lie huh," John exploded as he sat up in bed the two now facing each other.

"We were friends mon ami, nothing Remy ever told ya was a lie."

"Except for the fact that you're an X-Man," John yelled.

"Everyting else was true."

"Just leave me alone," John lay back down and turned his back on Remy, facing the wall.

Remy sighed and quietly slipped out of the room wondering if he would ever be able to mend things between the two of them. John had been a breath of fresh air while he was undercover with Magneto. The two had instantly clicked and it had nothing to do with the fact that John had a lousy poker face. He could tell that John was just a kid that was in way over his head and trying to find somewhere that he fit in.

XXX

Melissa swung her legs back and forth as she sat in the infirmary. Both legs were cast free and she had a giant smile on her face, "Thank you so much Dr. McCoy!"

"It was no problem at all. Now be sure to take it easy as your leg regains its full strength."

"Got it Doc." Hank McCoy chuckled as his patient practically sprinted from the room.

As he went to check on his other patients he was startled as Jean spoke up from behind him, "It's so sad that these kids are stuck lying here when they should be out enjoying life. And it's all my fault. That should be me lying there."

"Don't say that Jeanie, it was the Phoenix not you," Hank reassured his old friend. Then, he turned back around as the monitors started beeping.

XXX

"What were you doing in his room?" Bobby caught up with his girlfriend in the hallway.

"Ah was just helpin him get settled in," Rogue answered not understanding why Bobby wanted to know.

"Yeah right," Bobby just brushed passed her, not wanting to deal with his relationship problems at the moment.

"Bobby wait, what do ya mean," Rogue furrowed her brows, puzzled even more. But she failed to catch up with him so that they could talk about it.

"Hey Rogue. What's up?" Jubilee and Kitty stopped on their way outside.

"Nothing," Rogue shook her head to clear her thoughts of the unusual encounter with her boyfriend, "What are you two up to?"

"Just goin to sit outside and catch some rays if you wanna join us?" Jubilee offered.

"Sure," Rogue followed her friends out the back door.

After finding a nice sunny spot, Kitty laid out the blanket they had brought with them and the trio plopped down.

"Aw aren't those two so cute," Kitty pointed out Jason and Elizabeth as they took advantage of the sunshine as well to take a walk along the grounds.

"Wishing you had dragged Piotr out here instead Kit Kat?" Rogue raised her eyebrow at her friend. The two had been going through a rough patch, but the whole Phoenix fiasco had really put things into perspective for them. Thus, the two talked through their issues and were happily together now.

XXX

"It's so beautiful here isn't it," Elizabeth happily swung their joined hands back and forth as they passed the rose garden.

At that moment a young group of children ran past them, giggling and yelling loudly.

"Yeah peaceful too," Elizabeth chuckled at the sarcasm and leaned into her boyfriend.

"So you're happy here?"

"It's nice to have so many people around that understand you and we don't have to hide who we are here. We're free to just relax," she halted in her tracks and looked up at Jason, "do you not like it here?"

Jason sighed and ran a hand over his face, "It's not that, it's just…I don't know," he shrugged.

"Oh I get it. You liked when it was just us and our little family," Elizabeth nodded in understanding; her boyfriend wasn't much of a people person.

"We could always leave. Get a place for ourselves in the city…" Elizabeth got a silly smile on her face as she began to daydream about what life would be like just the two of them.

"No, you like it here and I still want to fight the good fight. You know… I want us to feel like we're free to relax anywhere," Jason leaned down and kissed Elizabeth and then tugged her along to continue their walk.

XXX

Dylan and Dani made their way into the infirmary to visit their comatose friends. They were met with a surprise when they walked in to see Zhane sitting up in bed with Dr. McCoy checking his vitals.

"Whoa," Dylan dropped the bottle of water that he was bringing up to his lips, but Dani quickly grabbed it before it could spill all over the floor.

Dylan continued on to his friend's bedside while Dani zipped upstairs to spread the good news, the elevator would take too long so she raced up the stairs and spied Alex watching TV in the rec room with some other kids.

Standing in front of the TV she announced, "Zhane's awake!"

"Holy…" Alex was so startled by her appearance that he spilled his bowl of popcorn, "Sorry," he turned to the kid who was sitting next to him, snagged a piece of popcorn off the boy's leg, and darted down the stairs to the infirmary.

Speeding passed Melissa, Charissa, Rachel, Andy, and Jace without evening stopping, only slowing down a tad Dani shouted to them, "Zhane's awake!"

"Wha.." they all looked at each other making sure that they had heard the same thing seeing as how she made her announcement so fast. Then they sprinted to the infirmary, well Melissa hobbled along since she had ignored the doctor's orders and hadn't really gone easy on her recently recovered leg.

Finding Remy was simple as she literally ran right into him, "Easy there petite, what's the rush?" He grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling on her butt.

"Ow," Dani finally took a breath from all her running around, forgetting for a moment what she was doing until she looked up and saw Remy's quizzical expression, "Oh right, Zhane just woke up."

"That's great!" Remy released her as he pushed the button for the elevator to go down to the infirmary.

Stepping outside, Dani shaded her eyes and looked up waiting for the two lovebirds to land.

"Wow, that was amazing," Betsy was still wrapped up in Warren's arms after he took her out flying.

"Yeah yeah, I hate to interrupt this lovely moment. On second thought, no I don't. Just thought you should know that Zhane is awake." The two sprang apart once they realized that they had an audience.

"Zhane's awake?" Elizabeth and Jason had overheard and made their way over to the group.

"Yup," Dani bounced around impatiently, waiting for them to get a move on.

"Go ahead, we'll catch up," Jason waved Dani on who sped away back to the infirmary. The others slowly following after her.

Dylan had filled Zhane in on all that had happened while he was unconscious as the rest of the team trickled in.

"And Betsy and that guy with the big, girly angel wings are all gaga for each other, it's so gross."

"Hey!" Betsy smacked the back of Dylan's head before she leaned over to give Zhane a hug, "Welcome back."

"It's good to be back," Zhane chuckled.

The group basked in each other's company and welcomed their fallen teammate back into the fold. But there was still something missing as Zhane glanced at the last member of their team in another bed not too far away. Her chest was rising and falling with help from one of the many machines that surrounded her.

There was another thing that was missing Zhane noticed as he tried to float one of Dylan's chips towards him.

His powers were gone!


	9. Decisions

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot.

**Decisions**

Today found the newcomers in the Danger Room for the first time in order to prove themselves to the X-Men. The current members of the team were up in the control room observing the simulation along with John who stood apart from the group.

Logan had them running the same obstacle course that the younger X-Men had done the other day. It was a nice introduction to the Danger Room and would give them a nice overview of their abilities. Plus he had a feeling they might be able to teach his team a thing or two about teamwork.

Zhane easily stepped into the leadership role in Tessa's absence. They breezed through the course helping each other out when needed and you couldn't even tell that Gambit wasn't normally with the team; he blended in seamlessly with them. There were a few instances where Zhane forgot his powers weren't what they used to be, but overall they made good time.

The Wolverine glared at his team hoping they understood why this team came so close to beating their time from the other day. They had worked as a team instead of bickering and ignoring each other.

John noticed the tension, "What, they better than you?" he laughed as he exited the room amidst their stutters of denial.

The Danger Room dissolved back into a large, empty room.

"That was awesome!" Dani squealed.

"I know, why couldn't we have something like this?" Dylan agreed.

"Because we never stayed in one place for too long," Zhane explained.

"Guess that would be kinda hard to transport from place to place huh," Dylan conceded. The group laughed as they went to shower and change out of their uniforms.

John caught up to them as they were leaving, "You were great in there," he threw his arm around Charissa.

"Thanks! That room is amazing." It was nothing like the training Charissa was used to.

"Hey! What about the rest of us, John?" Melissa teased.

"You- you guys were all great," John stuttered, embarrassed.

"Aw thanks, John," Andy gushed and threw his arm over the other boy's shoulder.

John shrugged him off, "Shut up."

XXX

When Logan entered the gym for his workout, he was surprised to find Zhane kneeling on the mat, various objects surrounding him. One of the exercise balls was floating in the air in front of him.

Logan walked over to the younger man, "Oh, hey Logan." Sensing the other man's curiosity he explained, "The mind is just like a muscle. I in a way pulled it and it has seen little use these past few weeks as I've been unconscious. Thus, I need to retrain and slowly regain my strength."

"The team needs me, I failed them today." The ball landed on the ground and bounced away.

Logan sighed now understanding why the kid was pushing himself so hard.

"I just…I feel useless."

"The others looked to you today for guidance and you led them well. I wouldn't say you were useless."

Zhane felt a pang of anguish at that because that was Tessa's job. He was just her second in command. Then, he got to his feet and began putting everything he had been using back, "Thanks Logan."

Before he could even push the button to call the elevator the doors slid open and its occupants stepped out.

"What is she doing here?" Zhane asked glaring at the blonde dressed in a white pantsuit that was a bit too revealing to be worn at a school.

"Doing you a favor," the woman sneered.

Betsy quickly stepped between the two, "Zhane, Emma is here to see if she can help Tessa."

"Tessa doesn't need her help," Zhane didn't want Emma Frost anywhere near his best friend. They had crossed paths in the past and Emma was only interested in looking out for herself.

Betsy gave him a pointed look. With the Professor gone and Jean's unwillingness to work on regaining her powers she was the only telepath left in the mansion, and she hadn't been able to help so far. She was hoping that two minds would be better than one.

"I'm coming with," he didn't trust Emma and did not want her messing with Tessa's mind.

The trio made their way down the hall to the infirmary.

"Someone's had better days," Emma commented as she took in the site of Tessa lying on the hospital bed with various wires running from her body to machines, the noisy respirator breathing for her, and her pale white skin from the lack of sunshine. Zhane rolled his eyes at how insensitive the White Queen could be as he pulled up a chair and grabbed Tessa's limp hand.

"Shall we begin," Betsy nodded and the two telepaths closed their eyes reaching out with their minds towards the unconscious woman.

"Well?" Zhane perked up as after several hours Emma finally opened her eyes again and leaned back in her seat, massaging her temple as if the whole ordeal had given her a headache.

Betsy sighed and shook her head, "I'm sorry, Zhane."

He stood up so fast that his chair fell to the floor and he was soon in Emma's face, "I thought you were one of the most powerful telepaths Emma! Huh what happened?"

Emma was not at all fazed by his outburst, "I came here and I tried to help because I honestly respect Tessa, she can be a great deal of fun at times. She actually provides a challenge unlike some of you. But she has a wall up that we just can't get through. Her mind still thinks she is under attack and is trying to protect her. I'm sorry, if she doesn't come out of it on her own, I'm afraid she will never wake up."

"No!" Zhane shook his head and turned his back to the women, not wanting them to see the tears welling in his eyes. Then, he stormed from the room not even realizing that his powers had caused a cart to go flying across the room to crash into the wall.

"Well that went well," Betsy glared at the other telepath, "now if you could show me to Cerebro as promised."

XXX

Kitty, Piotr, Bobby, Rogue, and Jubilee were in one corner of the rec room, studying for a physics test that they had coming up. On the other side of the rec room, most of the newcomers were waiting for news on their friend. John noticeably absent since he still didn't want to be in the same room as Bobby or Remy.

"Ugh… I hate physics," Jubilee dropped her head down onto the textbook in front of her.

"Tryin' ta learn through osmosis, Jubes?" Rogue teased her frustrated friend.

"Whatever works," she grumbled from the pages of her book.

"Would you quit your pacing, it's making me sick," Charissa groaned.

"Sorry," Dani quickly sat down but her feet kept bouncing with nervous energy.

"Alright so now that we have all the forces and reactive forces, where do you want to take the momentum from?" Kitty was helping Bobby with forces and momentum. "Bobby?" Kitty looked up when he didn't answer her. Looking around she smacked him on the arm when she realized what had caught his attention.

"Ow! What was that for?" He turned back to his friend, rubbing the spot where she had smacked him.

"You know what," Kitty growled and then turned to see Piotr similarly distracted, "Really?!"

"Sorry," Piotr blushed.

"What a slut," Jubilee chimed in when she caught on.

Betsy walked Emma out, "Thanks for trying, we really do appreciate it."

"You're welcome and," Emma paused in the doorway, "could you let me know how things work out?" she whispered.

Betsy smiled, glad to know underneath her stony exterior the woman truly did care somewhat, "Certainly. Bye."

She turned and walked back to the rec room that she had seen most of her teammates in. They all stood at attention when she entered.

"So?"

"Is she awake?"

"What happened?"

"Whoa, slow down guys," Betsy threw up her hands at their volley of questions and took a deep breath, preparing to deliver the bad news, "I'm sorry there was nothing we could do."

Melissa, Rachel, and Charissa sat back down on the couch, suddenly weak in the knees. Jason pulled Elizabeth in close as she got teary eyed.

"Damnit!" Dylan kicked the coffee table.

Alex sighed, "We figured as much when we saw Zhane storm out."

"Now what," Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, asking the question that was on all their minds.

Betsy slowly sank into the armchair Jace had vacated, "Well there is a possibility she will come out of it on her own."

"I sense a 'but' coming here," Andy interrupted.

"It's already been a long time, there is minimal brain activity, and she still isn't breathing on her own," Betsy explained.

"So it doesn't look good," Jace summed up and Betsy shook her head in the negative.

"We can't just give up on her," Dani exclaimed, to her Tessa had seemed invincible and now that illusion was shattered.

"Would she really want to just be a vegetable though," Rachel pointed out.

"Look let's just let this all sink in before we make any decisions. We'll have to figure out who her power of attorney is…" Betsy was again interrupted.

"She's our teammate!" Dylan shouted over her.

"Alright everyone lets just table the discussion for now and lets all calm down," Jason all but commanded.

Dylan huffed and stormed out as the rest of the group slowly dispersed to digest the news.

"I feel so bad for them. Here we are worrying about a test whereas they are worried about losing their friend," Kitty slammed her book shut unable to study after witnessing all that, her mind completely elsewhere now.

"I know," Piotr rubbed his girlfriend's back trying to soothe her.

Rogue swiftly stood up and grabbing her books left the room, "Rogue – Rogue where ya going?" Bobby shouted after her, not receiving a response.

She saw the flap of a trench coat just as the front door was closing and hurried to follow the owner out.

Looking around the grounds she spotted him sitting up in a nearby oak tree, a curl of smoke drifting out.

"Ya know those things'll kill ya," she appeared at the base of the tree looking up at his red on black eyes.

"Everyone dies someday, chere," Rogue winced realizing she may have come off as insensitive after what he had just learned.

"Sorry, Ah heard about your friend back there," Rogue fidgeted nervously, "Ah just wanted to make sure your alrigh'."

"Gambit's fine, Tessa's the one lyin' in the hospital bed," Remy grumbled, not really in the mood to talk.

Rogue winced again, now having second thoughts about chasing after him, "Ah just thought since ya two were obviously close that ya might want… ta talk or some comfort. Jus' didn' think ya should be alone." Rogue shrugged and turned to walk away realizing she wasn't wanted.

"Wait chere," Rogue turned back and saw that he had scooted over on his branch so she climbed up and sat next to him as he put out his cigarette. "Desole, Gambit's not takin' the news too well."

"Ah understand… it's hard losin' someone," Rogue thought back on the recent funerals she had attended for Jean, Scott, and the Professor though Jean was back now, most people didn't come back from the dead.

"Known Tessa for years and while Gambit was undercover wit' Magneto she was the only real connection Gambit had. If not for her, not sure this Cajun would've made it through the mission."

"Ah wish Ah had gotten the chance to know her," Rogue patted his arm in comfort.

"Great femme, t'ink ya would've like her," Rogue spent the rest of the time listening to Remy tell her stories about Tessa.

There was one about this time where he had tricked her into eating this really hot pepper and then had to chug a whole glass of milk before proceeding to chase him around the mansion. Also, about the time he had scared off one of her gentlemanly callers by greeting him at the door sans sunglasses and fake horns on his head. Tessa hadn't talked to him for weeks after that and he had to bake her a nice, big chocolate cake to make up for it too.

XXX

"Oomp," Charissa stumbled as she bumped into someone in the hall, "sorry," she mumbled and continued on, not stopping to even see who she had bumped into.

"Hey," John grabbed her arm, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she tried to pull away, but John wouldn't let go of her and pulled her into a hug as she finally lost her composure. She had been trying to be strong for her friends, but as soon as she was alone it all just came bursting forth.

XXX

"Hey," Andy walked down the dock where Melissa was sitting with her feet over the edge in the lake. "Mind if I join you?"

"No go ahead," she scooted over to make room for him.

"Thought I might find you out here," Andy took his shoes off and dipped his feet in the water as well.

"Yeah, water's always had a calming effect on me," no surprise there since water was an element she had full control over so it was nice when everything else was spinning out of control.

Melissa leaned her head on his shoulder as the two sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts but neither really wanting to be alone.

XXX

Jean walked out on the balcony when she noticed the sky had become full of dark clouds, "Hey Ororo, guess you heard the news."

"Yeah. God Jeannie she's still just a kid," she had watched Tessa grow up and in her mind she would always be that little girl begging for just one more cookie.

"I know," Jean felt so guilty, she was the reason Tessa was lying in that bed.

"It's not your fault Jean, it was the Phoenix," she must have been projecting or her best friend just knew her so well.

"But I am the Phoenix, it's a part of me."

Ororo turned to her friend and grabbed her by the shoulders, "Jean listen to me, it wasn't your fault."

She then pulled her friend into a hug as tears started rolling down her face.

Logan had spotted them on the balcony and thought he might join them, but once he realized what was going on, he turned on his heel and left. He didn't deal well with crying girls, besides, they had each other.

XXX

With cooler heads they held a meeting the next morning in the War Room to discuss what actions they wanted to take.

Betsy spread out some papers before her, taking charge of the meeting since she had been the one working on Tessa. "So since Tessa no longer has any family she had named Zhane as her power of attorney, meaning he is to make all decisions for her when she is unable to."

Zhane just nodded, not too surprised since him and Tessa had talked about this before knowing that in their line of work it might come up. "We're a team and all decisions will be made as one."

Dylan closed his mouth, his protest dying on his lips.

"Ok, so we have two options here: keep going the way we are with Tessa on life support and hope she comes out of it on her own, or take her off the life support," Betsy was concise and to the point.

"And what are her chances of waking up on her own?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Slim, it's already been so long with no signs of improvement," Betsy had discussed all the medical stuff with Dr. McCoy and Dr. Grey before coming to the meeting.

"So what would Tessa want?" Dani asked.

"That's what we have to try and figure out," Rachel said.

"She was always so full of life, Remy don't think she'd want to spend the rest of her life lyin' on a bed, waitin' to wake up."

"But that's just giving up on her," Dani argued.

"Non, petite. It's letting her go." Silence descended upon them as that thought lingered in the air.

"So all in favor of pulling the plug," Jace bluntly decided to put it to a vote, raising his hand in the air.

Remy's hand was the first to join his followed soon by Betsy's. Melissa raised her hand along with Rachel and Charissa. Then, Andy and Jason's hands were in the air as well. As soon as Zhane put his hand in the air, the rest knew that this was the best thing for Tessa and it became a unanimous decision to take her off the life support.

"Everyone get in and say your goodbyes and we will let her go tonight." Zhane ended the meeting.

Throughout the day people were in and out of Tessa's room, saying their goodbyes even people that didn't know her that well.

Zhane was the last one in and he took a deep breath as he shut the door behind him and took a seat. He told himself he wouldn't cry, he would be strong for Tessa.

"I love you Tessa. We've been best friends for so long, I-I don't know what I'm going to do without you." He grabbed her hand between two of his own as he continued talking. "I remember when I first came to the Institute. I was so scared to use my powers, but as soon as you heard what they were you thought they were so cool. So I got over my fear, wanting to impress you so you would be my friend."

Zhane laughed, "I was such a dork, I'm sure you would've been my friend anyway. You've always been there for me and I'm sorry I feel like I've failed you, but I hope you find peace cause that's what you deserve for all the good you have done." Zhane stood up signaling that he was done, he didn't want to lose his courage.

Dr. McCoy came in and walked over to the machines but Zhane's hand on his arm stopped him, "Can-can I do it?"

"Sure son," Hank stepped back and allowed Zhane to turn off the machines.


End file.
